A superb early Bronze Lantaka deck cannon or swivel gun from Northen Borneo /Brunei. These ornate bronze canons were typically used along the gunwales and decks of ships, most notoriously those used by the Malay pirates who were active in the South China Seas around Borneo and the Philippines. This examples is small, cast from heavy bronze and ornate with a cast crocodile mounted to the front, and also most interestingly has an exploded breech section showing a failure during active firing!! 19th century or earlier
a second rare repeating crossbow Chu-ko-nu from China soon to be added to the store.. this fantastic 19th century bow has been restrung and is fully working allowing the user to see and feel exactly how it would have been used in combat. Used against the British in the 1850’s and the Japanese in the 1890’s, this ingenious and effective weapon has been used in China since the Han dynasty! used against mass troops and with bolts of steel probably poison-tipped.. supplied with a few dummy bolts..